Hello! I see a couple people reviewed~ Thanks so much!
Guest- Aww! I'm glad you liked it! I think I'm going to stick with third person and that type of writing style for as long as I can!
The Curse of Fates- Thank you SOOO much for the support! I'm really glad you like this story! I'll try not to let the lack of reviews keep me down and continue this story, but I'm one of those authors that, quite literally, lives off reviews. I need feed back, good or bad, to keep on doing what I'm doing.
Iris flower- I am SO, SO, SO happy! Like, really ecstatic that you think this story is amazing! THANK YOU! And yes, I totally agree with you. Rick Rordan is the devil in an angels disguise…
Night's Shadow- I know who you are~~~ Thank you so much for never giving up on me and keeping me going!
Anyway, this one is going to be rather short, but I hope you like it anyway! Also, its going to focus on character development for Gadget (hopefully) in the beginning, but soon its gonna focus on the original ones again. I just really love Gadget, ok? One of my proudest creations~
Moving on to the chapter.
No ones POV third person:
The change was immediate. The temperature dropped and darkness fell, even though it was the middle of the afternoon and the sun should have been shining. Shadows pulled towards Shade and black marks appeared on her skin. They twisted and winded up Shade's body, snaking like vines of ivy climbing up the tree, slowly killing it.
Her black kantana was wreathed in shadows and, unlike her white kantana that glowed with the power of a pale star; it shimmered with the hatred of a poisoned moon. When Shade's eyes opened they were no longer black with white souls, no, they glared a powerful, horrible, terrifying violet.
The earth around her trembled and cracked, and only Hunter understood what was happening. She quickly turned her rifle into handguns again, sheathed them and jumped down from the tree she was residing in.
"Adian! Sammy! Vector! Grab Sky, James, and Gadget. We have to get away. Fast." She spoke with so much conviction; there was no room for argument. As soon as the others were gathered, it was Adian who asked, "What about Aruna?" There was so much pain in Hunter's expression, he wished he hadn't asked.
"There is nothing more we can do for her." Hunter said flatly. "She's dead. And we will be too if we don't get out NOW."
"What?! I am not going to leave with out her!" Sammy cried. "She was like a sister to me and if you-"
"I KNOW." Hunter suddenly shouted. "If there was anything I could do, trust me, I would do it. But that sword most definitely punctured a lung and broke ribs. Would you really risk the life of her brother and my friends for a lost cause? WOULD YOU?! She's DEAD, Sammy." A sob burst forth. "Dead."
Vector and Adian looked to the ground and Sammy clutched Gadget tighter to him. "Can you at least promise me that there will be a body to return to?" He whispered, almost inaudible over Shade's rising anger.
Hunter looked to him despairingly. "I'm not making a promise I might not be able to keep. Let's go."
And so, tears in their eyes, the group ran. They ran and they ran, further and further, away from the army of Ball-Jointed Dolls, away from Shade's overpowering hatred, and away from Aruna.
They ran, not knowing what else to do.
#$#$
It played over and over, like a messed up, painful, bloody song.
Allen, laughing and smiling with him, Sammy, and Aruna. They had been playing tag and were out of breath, and they all fell to the ground in a circle, the grass so green and the sun shining above them.
He looked over at Sammy and felt his breath catch in his throat. Sammy looked so wild and free, black hair moving in the soft breeze, gold eyes bright with happiness and skin slightly flushed. He looked amazing.
Suddenly, he disappeared. It was so sudden, Gadget had to blink to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. But, no, Sammy was gone. The grass was no longer green, the sun no longer shining. Storm clouds had covered the sun and the grass had burned, leaving nothing but dead, brown stalks.
A scream cut from behind him. He spun around in time to see his sister cut down once again, blood spurting forth and onto his person. Aruna's green eyes seemed to ask, 'Why? Why didn't you help me? This is your fault. You did nothing and stood back and watched me die. Why, why, why?' She landed with a thud and her lifeblood pooled around her, staining the earth red. Allen stood above her, laughing wickedly. She turned to him, white hair swishing and burgundy eyes glinting maliciously as she advanced upon him.
'Your entire fault. Your entire fault. Never forget it. It's all because of you. Your fault. Your fault.'
NO! No, no, no, no. It wasn't my fault! It wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't!
He tried to run but his feet were frozen, he tried to scream, there was no sound. In his head, voices echoed, repeating, over and over until he believed it. Yes, it was his fault. He deserved to die. It was all because of him. It was his entire fault.
Allen cackled gleefully as she raised her sword and brought it down on his head.
Blood spattered and Gadget fell to the ground, dead.
A loud crack woke up almost everyone in the group.
"What is it? What happened?" Sky shouted, immediately up on her feet, Sammy soon joining her, as well as Vector and Adian. Hunter was a bit less graceful, stumbling up onto her feet half awake before staggering like a drunk and falling back into a heap on the ground. She groaned pathetically and stood up once again, clutching her nose. James simply snored and rolled over on his side, asleep once again.
Hunter glared at the boy and kicked him in the face. No reaction. Her eye twitched. Hunter took her handgun and shot a couple rounds into the dirt next to his face. James murmured in his sleep and started to cuddle Hunter's leg. Red-faced, Hunter swung her leg with all her might and James flew off into a tree. He hit the ground and finally woke up.
"Oh, hey. What's up?" He yawned, still looking sleepy. There were multiple loud smacks as face met palm.
"Oh, did I wake you up?" A sleepy murmur came from the group's right. Gadget had looked up, a broken branch in hand, and hair out of its normal ponytail, hanging down around his neck, but one stubborn piece of blond hair stuck straight up in a cowlick. Sammy's face went a rather interesting shade of red and he quickly shed his jacket and placed it around Gadget's shoulders to cover up showing skin. (Gadget had taken off his own coat before going to sleep.) Hunter watched the interaction with a wide, sly grin.
"Uh, yea. If I may ask, why are you holding a broken tree branch in your hand?" Adian asked carefully.
"I was angry so I tore if off the tree and killed it." Gadget said simply, grinning, though it seemed a little strained.
"Why were you angry?"
Gadget smile turned a little bit darker and shadows covered his bright blue eyes, so that there was only a glimmer of color. He slowly turned his head to face Adian. "I do believe that's none of your business~" He gave a creepy laugh. "Wouldn't you say?"
Adian turned as white as a bed sheet. "Y-Yes, sir!" He squeaked out. And just like that, the shadows disappeared and Gadget was smiling a bit more easily.
The crunch of leaves interrupted them and they all swung their heads to the sound. Shade stumbled forward out of the forest and collapsed upon the earth. It seemed that she was completely out of steam and shadows seeped out of her body like water.
"Shade!" Vector cried out, running to her side. He turned her onto her back and picked her up bridal-style and carried her over to the group.
"Is she ok?"
"Horry sheet-"
"Can-you-hear-me?"
"Giant muffins-"
"She's dead-"
"And then-"
"SHUT UP!"
James slapped a hand over Hunter's-and his own-mouth. Muffled curses fell from her mouth and she tugged on his hand, annoyed.
"Thank you." Vector sighed. He walked over to his discarded lab coat and laded Shade gently on top. Sammy walked over and plopped down in an ungraceful heap across from Vector and leaned over Shade. "Hey, is she going to be ok? She looks really pale and, uh, she's kind of smoking…" He observed carefully.
Adian stepped next to him and crossed his arms. "That's just residue negative energy from her Black Katana, or Kuro, as she calls it."
"That's 'Black' in Japanese, right?" Sammy questioned.
"Yep. Her other one is Shiro, or 'White'. They were gifts from Anko when she first arrived. Shiro is all the positive energy and Kuro is the negative energy. As Shade is our resident Balance controller, she can't have one without the other. However, Kuro's power is overwhelming, and hard to control. Shade has been using them for 10 years, maybe, and she still has little to no control over it. Shiro is almost equally hard to use, but Shade harnessed its power fairly easily. Now, she rarely ever uses Kuro without good reason. I bet if we go back to the battlegrounds, there will be nothing there. I mean nothing. It would be as if no one had never stepped foot on the leaves. There would just be the dark, prickling, cold stench of death." Adian's ears flattened to his skull and he grit his teeth. "It's been years since I've seen Kuro's power, but it's still just as frightening as the first time."
Sammy said nothing.
"Lets get some sleep." Sky whispered softly to the silent air.
Hunter nodded and they all laid down, but not before Vector placed a soft kiss to Shade's forehead.
They didn't notice the eyes glinting evilly from the underbrush, or they might have placed a guard. They didn't feel the anger and hate radiating from the dark figure and they didn't see the flash of white and didn't hear the rustle of leaves as the extra shadow ran from its hiding place and into the night to plan its revenge.
What they did hear was the scream that pierced the air the next morning.
All done~ Hope that chapter was to your satisfaction! Please review and don't kill me!